Laptop Computer Reviews

Asus X501A-XX277H Review

Asus X501 laptop range is greatly targeted at individuals on a tight budget. You will find several models within the range but prices start in a mere £299 with this Celeron-based X501A.

Before disregarding the Celeron as outdated, the B830 is a reasonably recent version, launched at the end of 2012. It’s a dual-core processor running in a respectable 1.8GHz, and supported by 4GB of memory along with a remarkably capacious 750GB hard disk.

The Celeron is not bad only at that cost, however it can’t overclock such as the more expensive Core i5 chips with Turbo Boost. Consequently it created a comparatively modest score of just below 2000 when running the PCMark 7 benchmark suite. This really is most noticeable when first setting up, because the X501A appears to stop and gather its ideas for around 10-just a few seconds despite the primary Start screen has made an appearance. (It will meet Asus’ declare that it resumes towards the Lock Screen in only 2 seconds from standby, though.)

Following this, the X501A is fairly responsive and most as much as the task of browsing the net or running Microsoft ‘office’. It’s no gaming rig, though, because the Celeron uses a mature Apple HD integrated graphics processor that may barely achieve 20fps even if running Stalker at 1280×720 with graphics configurations switched way lower low.

Obviously you cannot expect much when it comes to gaming performance from the laptop which costs under £300, as well as in other respects the X501A is really quite impressive. It’s perfectly designed for this kind of affordable machine – the casing comes with an attractive mottled effect, and feels sturdy enough to deal with the periodic bump inside a backpack.

The 1366×768 screen isn’t the cleverest you’ve seen, but it’s acceptable for web surfing or watching some streaming video online. Viewing angles aren’t great, and also the glossy screen causes it to be difficult to avoid insights, but it is remarkably great for the cost. Shirt is vibrant and accurate enough for editing your button snaps.

Quality is preferable to you may expect, the general durability from the unit guarantees the keyboard and track pad both feel firm and comfy to make use of. The track pad is flush using the casing so that you can use gestures to navigate around Home windows 8, calling in the Charms bar, switching between applications and scrolling and zooming.

The Altec Lansing loudspeakers really are a enjoyable surprise, missing the tough, tinny edge that we’ve come to anticipate from most low-cost laptops.

There is also a USB 3 port (along with a USB 2 port), Bluetooth 4, 802.11n Wi-Fi and both High-definition multimedia interface and VGA results.There isn’t any optical drive built-in, so you may have to budget some extra to have an exterior drive if you wish to watch Dvd disks, rip Compact disks or just install some software.

The advantage is really a weight of two.1Kg – that is well substandard for any 15.6-inch laptop. It’s no Ultrabook, however the X501A could be transported around fairly easily all day long. Having a battery that gives a great 4.5 hrs of video streaming via Wi-Fi, it’s a great bargain.